Ch. de la Bonneliere (Marc Plouzeau) 2024 Chinon Rive Gauche Loire

"Insider" pick.  This is the kind of wine serious Loire fans get before prices catch up with the reputation. Our quick notes after tasting it:  Classic young Chinon Cabernet Franc nose with herbs, pipe tobacco, raspberries and a tiny hint of brett which fits in perfectly and adds to the wine’s aromatic complexity rather than obscures it. The palate is bright and fresh with red raspberry fruit, a touch of earth, balancing acidity and suave tannins.  Ready to go now and over the next few years with steak frites, pork, charcuterie etc. "Marc Plouzeau’s Chateau de la Bonnelière is one of the superstar domaines in Chinon today, though to many Loire Valley wine lovers, it remains inexplicably off of their radar screens. In the last two decades, Marc has clearly ascended to the very pinnacle of wine producers in Chinon, joining the rarefied air occupied by other great names in Chinon, such as Domaine Olga Raffault, Domaine du Pallus and Domaine Charles Joguet, as well as the Baudry family. Monsieur Plouzeau’s first vintage where he was solely in charge of his family’s domaine was in 1999 and he is now celebrating fully a quarter century of fashioning stunning red and white wines from Chinon and its environs. I have been following his wines closely for a dozen years and with each passing vintage I become more impressed with the quality of his wines. Blessed with tons of old vines in some of the very finest lieux à dits in Chinon, Marc Plouzeau is at the top of his game today and making some of the most stunning wines to be found anywhere in the vast universe that is the world of wine. Before he becomes more famous and the prices of his wines start to inevitably rise in the wine market, I would urge readers who are not yet familiar with the wines from Château de la Bonnelière to take a few out for a test drive. I guarantee you will end up laying in an assortment of his top bottlings in the cellar and be thanking me many times over a decade or two down the road." - John Gilman/View From the Cellar